Ancho Sauce

TaMara reminds me that I’ve been remiss–I haven’t really said much about this sauce although I’ve mentioned using it. I put some on the leftover frittata this morning that I converted into a breakfast burrito, and it is the stuff that makes the pozole really pop.

The dried peppers are (from the left) pasillas, anchos, and New Mexico chilies. None of them are really hot, the pasillas are a touch warmer then the anchos, and the New Mexico chilies maybe a tad warmer than the pasillas. The other ingredients are lime juice, garlic, and dried oregano. Feel free to substitute other peppers for these-you can mix and match to control the heat of the final product. Like it very hot? Add some dried habaneros or the like.

Tear the peppers into smaller bits, lose the stems and seeds, put them into a sauce pan and cover with water. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then dump them into a blender. The batch I made today had an entire head of garlic in it. Add some lime juice and the oregano and puree. Add more water if it’s too thick. Taste and add salt if needed, perhaps some more lime juice. I have added tomato salsa to batches of it before. Some olive oil in there wouldn’t hurt anything.

This sauce is great on enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, and burritos. Mix some with sour cream to make a dandy South Western dip for chips. And, as I mentioned above, it’s just super in pozole.

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About TaMara

What's to say? I love to cook and I think families benefit from sitting down together for dinner every night. I ran What's 4 Dinner Solutions menus service for many year. Soon those menus, recipes and shopping lists will be a series of cookbooks. Guaranteed to make it easier for families to have a quick, delicious and nutritious dinner each night.